How children learn

EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES SERIES?7

INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF EDUCATION

INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF EDUCATION

How children learn

By Stella Vosniadou

The International Academy of Education

The International Academy of Education (IAE) is a not-forprofit scientific association that promotes educational research, its dissemination, and the implementation of its implications. Founded in 1986, the Academy is dedicated to strengthening the contributions of research, solving critical educational problems throughout the world, and providing better communication among policy makers, researchers and practitioners. The seat of the Academy is at the Royal Academy of Science, Literature and Arts in Brussels, Belgium, and its co-ordinating centre is at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia.

The general aim of the IAE is to foster scholarly excellence in all fields of education. Towards this end, the Academy provides timely syntheses of research-based evidence of international importance. The Academy also provides critiques of research, its evidentiary basis, and its application to policy.

The current members of the Board of Directors of the Academy are:

? Erik De Corte, University of Leuven, Belgium (President)

? Herbert Walberg, University of Illinois at Chicago, United States of America (Vice President)

? Barry Fraser, Curtin University of Technology, Australia (Executive Director)

? Jacques Hallak, Paris, France

? Michael Kirst, Stanford University, United States of America

? Ulrich Teichler, University of Kassel, Germany

? Margaret Wang, Temple University, United States of America



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Preface

This booklet is about how children learn. It has been prepared for inclusion in the Educational Practices Series developed by the International Academy of Education and distributed by the International Bureau of Education and the Academy. As part of its mission, the Academy provides timely syntheses of research on educational topics of international importance. This booklet is the seventh in the series on educational practices that generally improve learning.

The author is Stella Vosniadou, who has written many articles and books in the area of cognitive, developmental and educational psychology. She has taught at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and at the University of Athens, and was president of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction. She is currently the director of a graduate programme in cognitive science in the Department of Philosophy and History of Science at the University of Athens.

The officers of the International Academy of Education are aware that this booklet is based on research carried out primarily in economically advanced countries. The booklet, however, focuses on aspects of how children learn that appear to be universal in much formal and informal schooling. The practices presented here are likely to be generally applicable throughout the world. Even so, the principles should be assessed with reference to local conditions, and adapted accordingly. In any educational setting or cultural context, suggestions or guidelines for practice require sensitive and sensible application, and continuing evaluation.

HERBERT J. WALBERG Editor, IAE Educational Practices Series University of Illinois at Chicago

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Previous titles in the `Educational practices series' 1. Teaching by Jere Brophy. 36 p. 2. Parents and learning by Sam Redding. 36 p. 3. Effective educational practices by Herbert J. Walberg and

Susan J. Paik. 24 p. 4. Improving student achievement in mathematics by Douglas

A. Grouws and Kristin J. Cebulla. 48 p. 5. Tutoring by Keith Topping. 36 p. 6. Teaching additional languages by Elliot L. Judd, Lihua Tan

and Herbert J. Walberg. 28 p.

These titles can be downloaded from the websites of the IEA () or of the IBE () or paper copies can be requested from: IBE, Publications Unit, P.O. Box 199, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.

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Table of contents

Introduction, page 6 1. Active involvement, page 8 2. Social participation, page 9 3. Meaningful activities, page 11 4. Relating new information to prior knowledge, page 12 5. Being strategic, page 14 6. Engaging in self-regulation and being reflective, page 16 7. Restructuring prior knowledge, page 18 8. Aiming towards understanding rather than memorization,

page 20 9. Helping students learn to transfer, page 22 10. Taking time to practice, page 23 11. Developmental and individual differences, page 25 12. Creating motivated learners, page 27 References and further reading, page 29

This publication has been produced in 2001 by the International Academy of Education (IAE), Palais des Acad?mies, 1, rue Ducale, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, and the International Bureau of Education (IBE), P.O. Box 199, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. It is available free of charge and may be freely reproduced and translated into other languages. Please send a copy of any publication that reproduces this text in whole or in part to the IAE and the IBE. This publication is also available on the Internet. See the `Publications' section, `Educational Practices Series' page at:



The author is responsible for the choice and presentation of the facts contained in this publication and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO/IBE and do not commit the organization. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO/IBE concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Printed in France by SADAG, Bellegarde.

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